Her Knight
by FallingRosePetal
Summary: /AU/ What if before the miraculous Chat Noir was nothing more than an ordinary cat? Will his deception land himself and Marinette in great danger?
1. INTRO

The buzz of city life filled Chat Noir's head as he raced across the building tops. His eyes blurred from the rain pouring down. He had to make it back to Marinette before he detransformed. A small, black cat in Paris would have a hard time making it back to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He couldn't risk getting lost. If he got lost, Marinette would never know what happened to him; and more importantly, where would he be without her.

Memories flashed in the back of his mind and he frantically picked up his pace as the second beep of his miraculous rang out. A bluenette girl reaching down into a cardboard box to pluck out the thin kitten that resided there. The first time she became Ladybug. The day Plagg came into his life. How easily he was convinced into becoming Chat Noir. All in hopes of keeping her out of harm's way. He sighed in relief when the bakery came into view.

He made the final leap onto the bakery just as his transformation dropped. For him, this part was always the hardest. Getting the taste of humanity for it only to be ripped away from him. But it was worth it, to be able to protect Marinette and Paris in the process. He almost jumped out of his skin when he saw a flash of red fill his vision. Ladybug had made her way back home in one piece. At the sight of him, the corners of Ladybug's mouth turned upwards. She reached down to pick him up just as her transformation began to wear off. "Silly kitty." She muttered under her breath as she opened her trapdoor. She sat him down onto the floor and made her way towards her bed.

 _You have no idea, Princess._ He thought as he watched her crawl into her bed with a yawn. This had been their life for the past two years. Two years of living his life being half-human, it had made him quite weary. He'd almost forgotten what their life had been like before they had become Chat Noir and Ladybug. He felt horrible for deceiving her, but it was necessary for her protection. After all, without the aid of the miraculous he was just a simple cat. Nothing special like the praises the Parisians sang of him. He moved from his place on the floor and leap onto Marinette's bed. He watched her chest rise and fall when suddenly a bad memory passed through his mind. The event that inspired his drive to be Chat Noir.

It had been three years prior, a dreary night like this one. The bakery had closed for the night and Marinette had been laying in her bed, sleeping peacefully. Sleep had not came easy for Chat that night however. From his place on Marinette's bed, he saw the man come out of the dark corner of Marinette's room. His blue eyes filled with malice. The man was making his way towards the bed when Marinette awoke abruptly. She turned and took notice of the man. She opened her mouth to scream but the man was faster, he covered her mouth with his hand. "We're going to have lots of fun now, dearie." The man said his voice full of joy.

Chat Noir leapt without thinking, jumping onto the man's arm that was restraining Marinette. Enraged, the man grabbed Chat by the scruff and threw him roughly against the wall. With the breath knocked out of him, he watched in agony as he saw the man climb onto Marinette. He wanted to cry out, rip the man to shreds, to just **do something.** His prayers were answered when he heard someone coming up the stairs. Fortunately, the man took notice and took his leave. However, the sentiment the man said before leaving still chilled Chat to this day.

"I'll be back, dearie. Then we'll have lots of fun."

Up until that moment, the man had not made another appearance, to Chat's relief. This however, made his position as Chat Noir, superhero of Paris, more difficult however due to Marinette's parent's insistence to lock the balcony trapdoor. Sneaking out to fight akumas was a challenge. But, to Chat, this was all worth it, even if it was only to be her knight. He sighed in content as he drifted to sleep by Marinette's side.

A/N: I am so sorry for any OOC moments or spelling/grammar mistakes. This is my first fanfiction and is my first take at Miraculous Ladybug. Any critique or suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated. This story probably will have random updates as I just write on it as I get inspired or just need something fun to work on. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!


	2. Chapter 1

Chat was staring intently at the mirror, never before had bothered him so intently that he was not a human. He'd heard Marinette speaking on the phone with her best friend, Alya, about a boy named Nathaniel and a study date. This irked him due to his observations of interactions between Marinette and the red-haired boy. Especially when the redhead had been akumatized. You'd have to have been a fool to not notice the boy's feelings for the bluenette. This stirred feelings of jealousy that Chat was not aware he could feel as a cat. Entranced in his thoughts, he had not heard Plagg come up behind him.

"Never before have I had a kitten who was literally-well a kitten. This situation is unique as are you, so don't be feeling so blue, kid. Now how about some camembert?" The tiny cat god mused.

Chat stared unamused at him and then leapt down from the sink counter he had been perched upon. A light twinkling laugh that he recognized as Marinette's reached his ears. This filled him with joy despite his misgivings about being a cat. That was until, he discovered the source of his Marinette's laughter. A certain tomato-headed human male. He felt his fur bristle and he willed his jealousy was not appear to the two humans.

His heart clenched painfully in his chest. He was terribly jealous, and hated the thought of it. He could not stand the extreme waves of human emotions that had come along with his miraculous. It had caused him a lot of mental anguish when it had come to Marinette. He was filled with jealousy whenever she gave human males more attention than she would bestow upon him. This was amplified when he was in his human form. When he had a voice to speak his feelings, it got the best of him. She would usually brush him off without much thought. This wounded him at first but he soon grown used to her air of professionalism as Ladybug. His mantra of thought was interrupted by the sudden realization of the time of day. He begrudgingly transformed and made his way for the balcony when he heard a voice gasp in surprise behind him.

"Chat Noir?" His eyes widened when he saw her.

Tikki.

"When Plagg said his newest kitten was quite literally a kitten I thought he was pulling my antennae. Now I see that it is the truth." Tikki said, her eyes filled something not unlike pity.

Chat stared at the kwami in fear. He couldn't let her tell Marinette the truth about him. Not yet. He then found his voice. "P-please don't tell Marinette."

"I don't plan to. But you will, eventually at least." Tikki said.

Chat had most definitely not thought that far ahead. The thought of her knowing the truth terrified him. "I plan to," He bit his lip nervously. "Not today. One day I will, just not today."

* * *

As Chat jumped from rooftop to rooftop, he pondered over the conversation he'd had with Marinette's kwami. How would he ever tell her that her beloved cat was also her crime fighting partner Chat Noir? A set of instructions hadn't exactly came with the miraculous. Only bad luck, the only good that had come from the miraculous was the ability to protect Marinette. That, and Plagg's promise. If he could get Marinette to just utter the words 'I love you', Plagg would turn him into a human. You would think it would be easy as he was her beloved cat and partner. Unfortunately, this was not the case. He was not allowed to speak the details of his deal with Plagg or the deal was off. The words had to come from Marinette's heart. They had to be sincere. This made his interactions with her, flirtier than he'd planned. He did love her, but he knew the task of earning his Lady Luck's love back would not be easy. She was not easily impressed by his puns, nor his flirtations as sincere as they may be. And with Nathaniel competing with him for her affections it made the situation even more interesting.

He knew it would make his life harder to suddenly become human, but he did not enjoy being a powerless cat outside of his time as Chat. What would he do if something like the break-in happened when he was out of his suit? He couldn't exactly turn into Chat in front of her that would only complicate things further. He supposed it was on the selfish side to be in pursuit of someone's love for a self-benefiting deal but he had no other options. He wanted to be able to be more help to Marinette than he currently was as a cat.

Chat's momentary distraction was interrupted by a shrill scream. _Well, duty calls._ He thought as he went towards the direction of the screams.

* * *

Today's fight had not taken as much time as their fights with Hawkmoth's akumas usually had. This left Chat with some extra time to enjoy his time as a human. When the first warning rang out, he very begrudgingly drug himself back to Dupain-Cheng bakery. However, he had not been expecting Marinette to be out on the balcony. Before he could slip away without being seen, Marinette called out to him. "Chat Noir, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Am I not allowed to visit my favorite princess without a reason?" He asked, innocently. He mentally took note of her different reaction to him outside of her suit. He had interacted a few times with her out of suit as Chat Noir, and they mostly exchanged pleasantries at the most. This time would most likely be no different.

"How many princesses do you have?" She mused.

"Only you." Chat muttered under his breath. Which was the truth, he flirted with no one else. It wasn't like he interacted with many people in suit outside of akumas and Marinette.

"What was that?" Marinette asked, looking at him intently.

Chat put on his best poker face and smiled back at her. He really did not want her to worry about him. Worry would turn into curiosity. And curiosity would turn into her finding out the truth about him. "Nothing, princess."

A final beep sounded from his miraculous and he excused himself to detransform. As Marinette watched Chat make his retreat from the bakery, she couldn't help but wonder who the person behind the mask was. "What a strange cat." She muttered.

The chat with Marinette had made Chat's way home longer that planned and, unfortunately, more challenging. He had transformed in an alleyway and walked back to the bakery as a cat. Chat waited at the bakery's front door in hopes for someone to let him inside. As per usual, it was Sabine who let him inside. He'd received a light-hearted scolding as she carried him back to Marinette's room.

Once inside Marinette's room he looked around for her but failed. It wasn't until Plagg piped up that he recalled that Marinette would be with Nathaniel for their study date. He felt a slight prick of jealousy but brushed it away and made his way to Marinette's bed. Since he was not needed he would take a long needed nap.

* * *

It was hours later before he saw Marinette again. She was smiling at least, which helped subside Chat's feelings of jealousy a tad. She looked exhausted but instead of walking towards her bed, she went in the direction of her sewing machine. He warily watched her, as she threaded the needle. He wished she wouldn't run herself ragged like this, but he could not voice his opinion in this form. He would have to settle for watching over her. For now at the very least.


	3. Chapter 2

Rena Rouge made her first appearance in their fight with Saptois. Chat had to admit, it was nice to not have to fight alone while Ladybug acted out her plans. After the fight, he had been enlisted to take the Césaire twins home. They were more than happy to come with him, which made his job a whole lot easier. However, after the twins were safely in their beds, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

Chat turned, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until he made a move to go in the direction of the bakery. Something pounced on top of him, and caused him to roll across the building he was perched on. He reached for his staff, but did not have much time to react when whatever it was turned tail and ran. Chat thought about following it, but thought better of it when he heard his miraculous beep.

* * *

Chat was becoming paranoid. Every few nights when he was out on patrol with Ladybug, he saw that thing somewhere. He thought about pointing it out to Ladybug, but once he did get the opportunity the thing was out of sight. However, he did keep a watchful eye on the creature while he could. Other than his first meeting with it, it hadn't tried to attack him or Ladybug. That factor put him at ease, but the idea of an unknown creature running a muck did not.

At first, he thought it was an akuma, but other than attacking him, it hadn't caused any mischief. It had not tried to come after him nor Ladybug while they were on patrol. While being an akuma seemed pretty likely, adding those factors in made it seem a lot less likely. This alarmed him. If it wasn't an akuma, what was that thing?

"Chat, you've been glaring at that sign for the past five minutes. Is everything okay?" Ladybug was staring at him expectantly.

"Everything is fine m'lady." He said, trying to muster a grin.

"Are you sure? I didn't think you were that interested in the Agreste fashion line."

Chat couldn't come up with a reasonable excuse for that. He just gaped like a fish out of water. Luckily, the situation was saved when both of them realized the time.

"I have to go. "They both uttered at the same time.

Chat took the long way back to the bakery, as usual. He didn't get too close until he saw Marinette go inside. He then made the final jump on the balcony, checked to make sure no one was watching, and detransformed. Plagg was surprisingly silent after the detransformation. It wasn't until later, after Marinette was asleep that the cat kwami spoke again.

"You're seeing him too, aren't you?" Plagg muttered.

Chat looked at the cat kwami, who simply stared blankly back. He gave his best attempt at a nod, which the kwami scowled at.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

* * *

Marinette was trying to haphazardly stitch together the garment she was working on while trying to hold her phone to her ear.

"Don't you ever find it strange that Chat Noir never shows up to fan meet ups?" Alya was on her current tanget. Chat Noir being too much of a mystery. "Granted what times I've interacted with him, he has complied to answer questions. But, he just seems off."

Marinette was a bit surprised by this. She usually just wrote off Chat's strange behavior. "Off how?"

Alya seemed a little more hesitant to comply. "I don't know. I just find it strange how much more active he is than Ladybug. He always is the first to a fight and always lingers around the city afterword."

Marinette could understand where Alya was coming from. Granted, she did want them to keep their identities a secret, but it was almost like Chat wasn't a person outside of the mask. "I get what you mean, Alya. He is a bit introverted when it comes to fans, but a lot of the fans questions are a bit personal." Marinette remembered one situation when a fan boldly asked him about his love life. She recalled how flustered he'd gotten, which really wasn't like him at all.

"That could be a possibility. But I just think he's hiding something, besides his secret identity, and I'd really like to know what." Alya said offhandly.

Now it was Marinette's turn to be uncomfortable. Alya had gotten better with obsessing over her and Chat after her time as Rena Rouge, but she still had her moments. Her being curious about Chat worried her. It wasn't that she was worried about Chat hurting her or Alya getting hurt in general. What she was worried about was what Alya would find. It wasn't like she didn't want to know Chat outside of the mask, she would love to be able to spend more time with him. But, it would put them both at risk. "I'm sure Chat has a good reason for keeping his secrets hidden from the public." She hoped that this would help deter Alya from digging to deeply.

"Maybe you're right." Alya said, sounding like she felt a bit guilty. "I wouldn't want someone digging up my secrets either."

Marinette almost sighed in relief when she heard a tap on the window. She almost threw her phone when she saw a certain black cat staring at her with expectant eyes. "Uhh, I gotta go. See you tomorrow."

"Wait, Mari-"Marinette cut her off abruptly and ended the call.

She drug the cat superhero in by his ear. "You do realize you can't just be outside my window, right? That would draw way too much attention-"

Chat only half listened to her scolding and then politely asked. "Can I borrow some paper and a pencil?"

Marinette stared at him with a blank look before obliging. Once he was given the materials he asked for, he thanked her and then plopped down on her floor. Marinette, even more confused, looked over Chat's shoulder. "Might I ask what you are doing?"

"While Ladybug and I have been patrolling lately, I've noticed someone following us. They usually disappear before I can point them out to Ladybug. I thought that having some sort of image of them to show to Ladybug might help us with finding out who they are."

Marinette hummed in reply but she felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck. How long had Chat known about this and not said anything? Granted she was not upset with him, but she was more concerned about whatever Chat was seeing. What if it was an akuma? She had been slightly careless with her detransformations as of late, if Hawkmoth found out her identity through an akuma, they'd be in great danger. When she looked over Chat's shoulder again, she was fairly surprised. The rough sketch Chat had drawn looked a little like him, but not that much at the same time. This person, or creature more like it, looked like an older version of Chat. The same blond hair, but it was much longer. This person's features were twisted into a snarl. There was also a thin scar twisting across the person's face. All in all, they were quite a sight.

"When did you first see them?" Marinette asked, innocuously.

"A couple days ago, after our fight with the Sapostis," Chat began. "I had just taken the Césaire girls home when this thing tackled me."

"It attacked you?" Marinette said, now worried.

"It just rolled me, and then left. It hasn't tried to attack me or Ladybug, but it worries me that it is hanging around." Chat said staring down at the drawing.

"I can understand that." Marinette responded.

"Thanks again for the paper, I'll make it up to you when I can." Chat offered.

"No, that's fine, anything for one of the heroes of Paris." She said offhandly.

"Look, I have to go but, I'll see you later." Chat said, grabbing Marinette's hand and kissing the back of it. He then bounded out the balcony trapdoor.

"Tikki," Marinette asked. "Do you know what's going on?"

The little bug god came out of her hiding place to go to Marinette. "I'm not quite sure, Marinette. Chat's situation is unique as it is."

"Wait, what do you mean unique?" Marinette asked, now even more puzzled.

Tikki froze then stated. "What I meant was, this isn't like anything that I have seen with any of my past Ladybugs. I'm sorry I can't really help more."

"Thanks anyway Tikki." Marinette said and sighed.

* * *

 _"Do you love me?"_

Chat had caught Marinette off guard with this question. Of course she did care about him, but she wasn't sure about her feelings for him being romantic. There wasn't anyone else she was interested in per say. She had thought about giving him a chance, but was worried about the danger that would come with it.

" _I'm not sure."_

That had been her only response to Chat's question. This had been the first time he had spoken about anything remotely romantic since their talk after fighting Glaciator. She told him she would try to eventually give him a chance, but not now. He had seemed fine with this at the time and hadn't brought it up again until now.

Marinette pushed her thoughts aside and grabbed her sewing machine to work on a project. She almost let out a groan when she heard a familiar tapping on her window. Just as she thought, Chat Noir sat perched in front of the window, grinning. As much as she loved his company, he always dropped in at odd times. She tried her best to smile back as she let the cat superhero inside her room. "To what do I owe the visit?"

She hadn't noticed until then that Chat had his right arm behind his back. Once she realized what he had brought her, the thought process from earlier came rushing back. He had brought her roses. Red roses to be exact. She barely reacted when he handed them to her.

"You don't like them do you?" Chat asked, intently staring at her.

"No, no, I do," Marinette said, mustering up a smile. "You just caught me off guard with it is all."

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Have you found any more out about the thing tailing you and Ladybug?" Marinette asked, changing the subject.

Chat immediately sobered. "Not yet, my kwami-the thing that gives me powers-doesn't know much about it either."

"That's strange, even the Ladyblog doesn't have any documentation of anything following you or Ladybug." Marinette said.

"I would think I was going crazy but my kwami has seen it as well." Chat said, leaning against Marinette's wall. "I just I wish I knew what it was."

Marinette understood, but was beginning to worry about Chat. Why was he the only one seeing this creature? Was he in trouble; or was something wrong with him and his kwami? Marinette's mind was racing, so she didn't notice Chat trying to speak to her until he tapped on her shoulder.

"I have to go, my timer is running out." Chat gestured to his ring which was now on its third dot.

"Oh, okay." Marinette said, still dazed.

Chat started to walk towards the trap door when he was stopped by Marinette. She had thrown her arms around him in an awkward hug. Chat froze at the contact, but turned so the embrace was a little less awkward.

"Be careful." Marinette mumbled.

"I will." Chat turned to leave for the last time, but looked over his shoulder to take one last look at Marinette. "Take care of yourself, Mari." With that, he was gone.

Marinette slumped to the floor, placing her head in her hands. "Oh, Tikki, what am I going to do with Chat?"

The bug kwami looked at her chosen with pity, not knowing how to advise her. "Maybe it would help if you tell him how you feel?"

"I really don't know what would be the right thing to do." Marinette lamented.

 **A/N Her Knight got its first review!**

 **That's a good twist. I see the beauty and the beast trick and I reaaaaaally liked. This is a promissing plot with a easy and lovely writting. Keep doing this amazing work-PamNawi**

 **Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you liked it.**

 **Also, it might be a while before I post another chapter. I'm trying to stay ahead by 1-2 chapters, and currently I only have about half of the next chapter done. Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 3

A/N: I got a burst of inspiration this morning and managed to get Chapter Three finished earlier than expected.

I also received a few guest reviews about _Her Knight_ that included some questions. I answered to the best I could without spoiling the story.

 **Guest:It makes me think of that story were a lady is married but she only meet him in the dark and she has to promise not to look at him but one day her friend worries her and says her husband must be horrible and that she should take a peak with a candle. and she gets her peak but then the candle wax drips and wakes him up and then he disappears. maybe alya will be that friend?** **  
** **either way even if someone says chat noir turns into a cat it is way more ridiculous than him being a model so I bet mari wouldn't believe it anyway.** **  
** **love chat getting all jealous about her human suiters. I am betting this other chat thing is a ghost o a stray cat. maybe for a chat noir that was forgotten and was a cat for Bridgette.** **  
** **orr maybe since its only been seen by Adrien and plagg its a mystical mysterious thing. after all there is a running theory that cats can see ghosts, fairies, magic, spirts and the like.** **  
** **and tikki is a different affinity so maybe plagg's sight is on a different level than hers?**

 _I think that the story you're referencing is the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. I did take some inspiration from the myth so you are spot on about that._

 **InsertNameHere:Hmmm... would it be possible for Marinette to say that she loves him as a friend? Would that let him become human? I'm really curious as to where this story is going, and you're one of the better fanfic writers out there. Keep up the good work!**

 _More details on Chat's deal with Plagg will be explained further as the story goes on. Thanks for the compliment!_

 **fifirdbk:I don't mind how long it takes to write but please don't give up on this story because it is really good and unique I haven't seen a story like this before, lots of people give up on their stories it's sad.**

 _I'm not going to give up on the story, it just may take a couple days to a week for me to update Her Knight._

 **Songbird17:Theory #1: The thing following Chat and LB is Felix, but he's crazy evil and wants to take their miraculous so he can bring back Bridgette (the love of his life).** **  
** **Theory #2: The thing is the evil version of Chat Noir from a possible future and is being controlled by Hawkmoth to steal the miraculous while his past self and partner are still relatively new being superheroes, thus giving him the advantage.** **  
** **P.s. I love the story**

Thanks, I'm glad that you like it!

 **emyy250** **:** **Why can no one else see the thing? Does it have something to do with him being a cat?**

The situation with the creature following Chat and LB is touched upon more in this chapter and the next, so your question will be answered.

Sorry about the long author's note, now onto Chapter Three!

* * *

Chat was examining the scraps that covered his shoulders. Today's akuma had nearly pitched him into the Seine. Ladybug had saved his skin yet again. It was one thing for Chat Noir to get hurt. However, Marinette's cat having the same injuries as Chat would start to raise suspicion. He winced when he heard Marinette come in through the trapdoor. He then gave his best attempt at a scowl when he heard Marinette gasp at the injuries.

"Chaton, what happened?" She said, grabbing the cat. She began taking him to the bathroom to grab the first aid and Chat almost sighed in relief. He loved his princess dearly, but she was quite oblivious. Luckily, in this situation it played in his favor.

* * *

Chat, for the first time, almost jumped for joy when Marinette left for school. He was finally able to show the drawing to his kwami. He pulled the slip of paper out underneath Marinette's bed where he had hastily stashed it when she wasn't paying attention. He placed the slip of paper in front of the cat god, staring at him expectantly. The kwami took one look at it then reached a conclusion. "You're seeing my previous kitten."

Chat titled his head to the side in confusion. If this was the previous miraculous holder, how was he appearing as Chat Noir? Plagg must have read his mind in accordance to what he said next. "The previous holder died as Chat Noir, and a part of him is still attached to the ring. I'm not sure why he is just appearing now, since the ring has been active for three years now." The kwami rubbed his temples before continuing. "As to why you're the only one seeing him, I have a few ideas as to why. My best guess is that, you being the current miraculous holder, have a stronger connection to the previous holder. That and the holder hasn't been gone for a long time. I think it might be a possibility that his soul is still attached to the ring. As to why, I don't know."

Chat was curious as to why the miraculous holder was still attached the ring. He had heard Alya talk to Marinette about supposed myths about cats. She had mentioned their ties to the supernatural, which he could believe considering how his life was going. However, the miraculous holding a tie to one of its past holders who had passed on, gave him a chilling feeling. What exactly was this previous holder trying to tell him. All of a sudden he heard a tapping at the window. The blood in his veins froze when he recognized the previous miraculous holder. He was staring at Chat with an expectant expression. _Well, here goes nothing._ Chat thought as he bounded towards the window, barely giving Plagg time to transform him.

* * *

Marinette was barely paying attention to the hum of school life around her. Between Hawkmoth stepping up his game with akumas and Chat's stalker, she was being drained by worry. She sometimes wished that she had someone she could go to for help besides Tikki for Ladybug problems. She knew that she could have Alya step in as Rena Rouge for extra help, but it was different than having someone more experienced with these issues. Although she liked having someone else to help even out the work load; it was a hassle trying to train Alya. It was even harder trying to get her on the same page as Ladybug and Chat. She chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about who to turn to. She thought about going to the guardian, but was worried about leading Hawkmoth to him. The guardian had already expressed his concern about having about another miraculous holder drawing attention. And to go along with the previous point, she had been taking enough risks as it was visiting him on occasion.

Still lost in her fog of thoughts, Marinette had scarcely been listening when her teacher had ended the class. She had barely gotten through the whole school day. Fortunately, it seemed like no one had noticed her detachment. This idea was abandoned when Marinette noticed Alya striding up to walk alongside her. "Girl, are you okay? You seem really out of it." Alya asked seeming genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Up late studying for an exam." The lie came easily to her. After all she had a lot of practice lying over the course of her career as Ladybug.

Luckily, Alya seemed to catch the hint that whatever has troubling Marinette, she didn't want to talk about it. Instead, she filled the silence in with chatter about school and the Ladyblog. Marinette kept up with the conversation to the best of her ability but got a free pass once they reached the bakery.

"Make sure to text me later, Mari!" Alya said, over her shoulder as she left Marinette standing in front of the bakery door.

She let out a deep breath and then went inside. Just in time to help out with the rush hour.

* * *

Chat could barely keep up with the previous holder. He was a lot quicker and agile than Chat. He was always somehow keeping two steps ahead. Chat was beginning to regret following the previous holder alone. What if he was leading him to a trap, or really was an akuma in the guise of the previous holder? Chat pushed the thoughts aside, and focused on the task at hand. Following the previous holder. If he was an akuma, he could stall him until Ladybug got there. He noticed that the previous holder was started to slow down, and then he noticed where they were heading. One of Paris's cemeteries.

* * *

Marinette was starting to become frantic. She could not find her cat anywhere. She knew that he did come and go but he never stayed away for hours at a time. Even Sabine, who knew their cat had a tendency to wonder off, was worried. Her mind ran wild with possible scenarios of her cat getting into trouble. After all, he was just a cat in Paris, a big, bustling city. She gnawed on her lip for what seemed like the hundredth time that day as she ran through ideas of where her cat could be. She just hoped that he didn't get caught up in an akuma attack. She'd never find him if he did.

* * *

Chat tailed behind the previous black cat holder. The previous holder had slowed their pace quite a bit. He watched closely as they stopped in front of a certain grave where someone else already stood. Chat tried to stay out of sight and watched the scene behind a tomb a few feet away from the grave. His eyes scanned over the inscription, which was printed in a gold font.

 _ **Felix Agreste**_

 _ **Beloved son**_

 _ **Born: May 20**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 1995**_

 _ **Died: October 15**_ _ **th**_ _ **, 2015**_

Chat was shocked by the date, this was around the time that he and Marinette had received their respective Miraculous. The holder had been active just right before Hawkmoth. What happened to the holder-Felix? To be as disfigured as Felix was, it had to have been something quite traumatic. Chat leaned a little closer in attempt to pick up on what the man was saying.

"I will bring you back, Felix. I'll bring you and your mother back, I just need a little more time. Ladybug and Chat Noir have been difficult opponents to beat-"The man continued to ramble on but Chat had stopped listening after that third sentence. Chat's eyes widened as the realization hit. This was man standing over the grave was Hawkmoth. Hawkmoth was the previous holder's father. He knew right then had to get out of her before he was discovered. Even though this man looked harmless, he had the power to bring Paris to its knees.

Miraculously, despite Chat being the epitome of bad luck, he had managed to slip past Monsieur Agreste by the skin of his teeth. How would he convince Ladybug how he had found out Hawkmoth's identity? He only happened to recognize the man due to the fashion magazines displaying pictures of the designer and his designs in Marinette's room. How would he carefully break it to her that her idol was the one terrorizing all of Paris?

Chat was about to detransform on the bakery's balcony when Marinette came bursting through the trapdoor. When he saw the look on her face all he could think was: _This can't be good._

 _"I am Briar Rose, and no one can tell me to stop living a fairy tale!"_

 _Well, that can't be good either._ Chat cast a look over his shoulder just in time to see a large vine winding its way across nearby buildings. Before he could move a vine twisted its way around his foot and yanked.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry(not sorry)_ _for the cheesy fairytale inspired akuma. I kind of just made an estimate on Felix's birthdate and the date that the miraculous holders became active. I hope that's okay!_

 _I got back on track with Her Knight and have another chapter done. I'm planning on making the next chapter 3,000+ words so the next chapter might be a couple days. Also, I'm debating on how long to make these chapters. So let me know whether you'd like to have shorter chapters every other day or longer chapters every week or so. Thanks for reading!_

 _P.S/ Please let me know if there are any grammatical or spelling errors in any chapter of Her Knight.I do read over the chapter before I post them but I occasionally miss a few._


	5. Chapter 4

**_Once upon a time, a long time ago there was a peasant and his wife, they were gifted with land and a beautiful home, but they still longed for more. They longed for a child. After seasons had passed, and the pair became worn and grey, they became weary. The woman became lonely and longed for the pitter pat of tiny feet. "I want a baby, even if it is an ugly beast."_**

 ** _The woman had her baby alright, but she had got exactly what she'd asked fo_ _r, a babe with the face of a beast. A boy with the face of a hedgehog and the body of a human. The pair are horrified by the sight, but overjoyed by the presence of a child._**

 ** _Time past and the days drug by slowly for the poor boy. One day a fair arrived in the city and the peasant man wanted to go. He'd asked his son what he'd like to be brought home. The boy_ _answered_** , ** _bagpipes. He'd wanted bagpipes._**

 ** _When the peasant returned home he gave his wife what he had brought for her and finally he gave the hedgehog boy the bagpipes. However, when the peasant man returned to give him the requested bagpipes, the hedgehog boy had one more request. "Please go down to the blacksmith and have my rooster shod so that I may ride away. If you do as_ _told_ _I will never return." The man did as told, and the hedgehog boy kept his promise. The boy took herd animals to tend in his new home, the nearby woods._**

 ** _In his new home, the hedgehog boy made a home in tall, aged tree. There he resided for many years. While in the residence of the old tree, he played music on his bagpipes that told stories of_ _bitter sweetness._**

 ** _This was greatly altered by a lost wandering king, who had been led astray by the hedgehog's music. The king wondered around aimlessly until he came upon the tree where the hedgehog had taken residence. The king called up to the hedgehog, and asked politely as_ _possible_** , ** _if the hedgehog could help him find his way back home. The hedgehog agreed, but for a price. The king would promise him the first thing that greeted him upon his arrival back to the kingdom. The king, although a man of his word, merely dismissed the promise without much thought. The first thing that greeted him would likely be of no value, and he could easily give it away._**

 ** _Unfortunately, the first thing that had greeted him had held a lot more value than expected. The king's daughter, having seen him approaching, had_ _ran_ _to meet him. The king was_ _distressed,_ _but was a man of his word, and unfortunately, a man of his word always kept his word. The old king, full of regret, told his young daughter of the promise that he had made to the hedgehog boy in exchange for assistance. The young princess, out of love for her father, vowed to go with the hedgehog boy when he arrived to claim her._**

 ** _The day came that the hedgehog boy returned for the princess. The king treated the hedgehog boy with kindness and had him escorted to the throne room where the princess waited patiently. Although startled by the hedgehog boy's the girl welcomed the hedgehog boy to the best of her ability, and they were wed. The king watched them leave filled with a deep sorrow for his deed._**

 ** _The evening that followed was eventful. When the time arrived, the princess was afraid of the hedgehog boy's quills. However, he convinced her that he would bring no harm to her. He had earlier told the king to have four men to lie in wait by their bedroom door. He also requested them for the four men to make a large fire. He informed them that he was planning on taking off his hedgehog skin after going entering their bedchambers. He also made them promise to pick the skin up and throw it into the fire._**

 ** _When the hedgehog boy entered the bedchambers, he took off the hedgehog_ _skin,_ _and laid it outside the door. The men immediately grabbed_ _it_** , ** _and tossed it into the blazing fire, and then the hedgehog boy was no more and in his stead was a human man. The princess had witnessed the events in awe and had been overjoyed. Now the princess and once-hedgehog boy's wedding was celebrated. And they lived happily ever after…._**

* * *

Marinette watched as Chat went flying off the balcony being drug by the vine. She recoiled as she watched him go flying through the air. She hoped he could hold off Briar Rose long enough for her to transform.

* * *

Chat winced as his shoulder collided with a building that he had been dragged past. This akuma was definitely not gentle in the least. His eyes were watering from the pain he was in. Every time he moved the leg with the vine wrapped around it, the thorn on the vine dug deeper. He had to say that the akuma were becoming more violent. He bit back a groan of pain as the vine dropped him in front of Briar Rose, who was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Hmph," Briar Rose tutted as she moved closer to Chat Noir. "I was expecting much more of a fight out of one of Paris's beloved heroes. No matter, just makes this easier." She said, reaching out a clawed hand to take the ring from Chat's finger. Before she could pull the ring from his finger, Chat moved backward as fast as his injured leg allowed him.

"Now, now, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way." Briar Rose said moving towards the cat superhero. Chat let out a low hiss as she approached. He reached out an arm to steady himself and made a halfhearted leap unto a ledge of a nearby building. He had miscalculated the distance and nearly missed, he narrowly was able to get a hand-hold onto the ledge. He pulled himself onto the building as Briar Rose neared. She raised her arm to summon more thorny vines but was stopped by a spotted yo-yo wrapping around her arm. "Not so fast, Briar Rose." Ladybug said, providing the perfect distraction for Chat to get the akumatized object, which he had a pretty good guess was the tiara perched upon Briar's head. While she was distracted, he lept and snatched the tiara from her head. He tossed the akumatized object to Ladybug, who quickly broke it over her knew. She threw her yo-yo out to catch the akuma, and as always caught it.

"Bye bye, petit papillon." She said as she wistfully watched the now purified butterfly fly away.

Chat made sure to check on the akuma victim before making his leave across Paris's city tops. He had done a mini patrol over Paris before making his way back to his home. Although everything had gone normally, something was off. This became evident when he went to detransform. Instead of going straight back to his normal feline form, he was stuck in between. He still had a majority of his human body, with the expectation of the now real ears and tail. He also had a few patches of black fur on his chest and lower stomach. _**Well, kid, you really have a problem now.**_ The kwami's voice was loud and clear inside his head. He gritted his teeth, he would now have to figure out some way of getting out of the bakery before-

"Chat Noir?" A surprised voice said from behind him.

 _Well, there goes that plan out the window._ Chat groaned internally.

* * *

 **A/N I really didn't mean for this to be a filler chapter. I had planned on making it longer and I do apologize for that. I plan on not updating for two weeks to a month so I can work on this fic and finish as many chapters as I can. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

 **Also the fairy-tale I referenced at the beginning of the chapter is Hans-my-Hedgehog which is originally written by the brothers Grimm. If you want to find out more about it, I'd recommend just doing a quick Google search using the keyword "Hans-my-Hedgehog", it's a fairly easy fairytale to find despite it not being widely known.**

 **And as always if you spot any mistakes, let me know. I do proofread and use a spell check, but I don't always catch everything.**

 **I own none of the characters or the fairytale mentioned in the beginning of the chapter.**


	6. Author's Note

A/N/ Hi everyone! Sorry for there being a lack of updates, I have been sick and have had a lot going on. I know it's not much of an excuse, but I just haven't felt up to writing lately. I promise I'll get a chapter up as soon as I can. Until then, have an awesome day/week.


	7. Chapter 5

Chat hesitantly turned to meet Marinette's shocked gaze. Her eyes widened at his appearance. Chat still had part of his suit intact from the waist down(thankfully), but his forearms and chest now had plush black fur coating it. His once faux ears and tail were now very real. His mask also looked like it was made of fur as well. She motioned his appearance. "I see you have a problem. Shouldn't you be calling Ladybug?"

"My transformation is stuck, and in this form, I don't have any means of contacting her." He said lamely.

"Oh," She awkwardly looked down at the ground. "I'd really love to help, but I'm not really sure how."

"Can I hide here for now? I don't think I could discreetly get home like this. "Chat said, scratching the back of his neck hoping it didn't sound like a lie.

Marinette hesitated but then relented. "Only for tonight, I think my parents would eventually notice me sneaking extra food up to my room if you stayed any longer."

Chat beamed at her while Marinette internally winced, it would be interesting trying to hide Chat from her parents and somehow alert Master Fu of their situation. She hoped that she wouldn't be grounded until her 30th birthday if her parents somehow found out.

* * *

The day drug past slowly with Chat cracking horrible jokes and Marinette almost going irate from listening to them. Business at the bakery had been slow so Marinette hadn't been called down to help with customers, leaving her to try and figure out what to do with the now slightly furrier Chat Noir. She had spent most of the day trying to come up with a game plan inside her mind on how to get Chat back to normal. What if his family is currently panicking because they cannot find their teenage son anywhere? What if an akuma appeared before he was back to normal? Marinette was at the point of having a panic attack when Chat finally snapped her out of it.

"Princess, Mari, Mari, Marinette." He groaned then gently snapped his now clawed fingers in front of her face. "Marinette!"

She jumped before tiredly replying. "Yes, Chat?"

"Your parents asked for you to come down to help with the bakery." He said, staring at her intently. "Are you okay, Mari? You seemed like you were so lost in thought there for a second."

Marinette nodded and made her way to the trapdoor. "I'll be back within an hour. Please don't break anything."

Chat faked a mock gasp and placed a hand on his chest. "You wound me, Princess. I would never break anything of yours, cat's honor."

Marinette rolled her eyes and shut the trapdoor behind her, signaling him to go silent.

* * *

By the time Marinette had returned to her room, night had fallen and Chat was only half-awake. She made sure to give Chat a place to sleep before she tiredly flopped onto her own bed.

"Goodnight, Chat." She said, her speech somewhat slurred.

"Night, Mari." He said with a yawn.

Chat had barely fallen asleep when he was jolted awake by the sound of something hitting the floor. He turned on his side and looked in the direction of the noise. Thereby Marinette's bed was the older Chat Noir. Felix Agreste. He gave Chat a wicked smile as he dropped what he had been holding. One of Marinette's vases. It made a loud shattering sound when it hit the ground. Marinette quickly sat up in her bed, being rudely awoken. Unfortunately, the noise also alerted Marinette's parents.

"Marinette, honey, are you alright?" Sabine's voice carried from under the trapdoor.

* * *

A/N/ Sorry for the delay and incredibly short chapter. I just wanted to get something out there since I haven't been active for a while. I know this probably isn't as great as what I usually write for this story but I haven't had a lot of time to work on 'Her Knight' as of late. The next chapter might be a little delayed as well because I have midterms coming up next week. However, I'll see if I can get another chapter out before the end of April, I can't really promise much though. Have a wonderful day/week!


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